_The Gambia has gone local by finally naming Peter Bonu Johnson as head coach who will take over affairs of the senior national team after the services of Belgian Paul Put was terminated at the end of October 2011. A release from the Ministry of Youth and Sports yesterday states that they have engaged the services of Peter Bonu Johnson as coach of the senior national football team for an initial period of one year.

He will be working with a competent foreign coach with an appropriate operational framework. He will also work with a technical team to assist him in his duties.

_Cote d'Ivoire striker Didier Drogba scored his 150th goal for Chelsea in a disappointing 3:1 home loss to Aston Villa in an English Premier League game on Saturday.The defeat saw city rivals Arsenal overtake the Blues to fourth place in the standings after Robin van Persie's goal gave the Gunners a 1:0 win over Queens Park Rangers.Drogba gave Chelsea the lead from the spot on 23 minutes, but Stephen Ireland leveled the scores for the visitors five minutes later. Two goals in the last ten minutes by Stiliyan Petrov and Darren Bent sealed the win for Villa.Only Englishmen Frank Lampard (178), Kerry Dixon (193) and Bobby Tambling (202) have scored more goals for the Blues than Drogba.

_Nigeria striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni continued his rich scoring form this season to help his club Blackburn Rovers to a shocking New Year eve's win at Manchester United.The former Everton hitman has proven to be one of the buys of the season in the English top-flight, with the goals taking his haul to 12 in 14 league appearances since joining Rovers in the summer.The 29-year-old gave the visitors the lead from the spot in the 16th minute after Congo defender Chris Samba was tugged down by Dimitar Berbatov.It proved the only goal until the 51st minute when a dogged Yakubu powered past two challenges into the box before unleashing an unstoppable left footed shot that beat the champions' goalkeeper David De Gea.

_Ghanaian international midfielder Michael Essien should be in line for a first team start in mid-January after recovering from a serious knee injury said Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas on Friday.

Essien, 29, has not played this season after suffering the injury before the first match of the campaign but Villas-Boas said he was nearing the stage where he could compete for a starting place. "He (Essien) will return to the squad in mid-January and will be available for matches," said Villas-Boas. "I think that in three weeks, he will be in a posiiton to compete for a starting place."

Nigeria Premier League (NPL) side, 3SC have appointed Festus Allen as their head coach ahead of the 2011/12 season.

Allen, who was formerly with Bukola Babes (now ABS FC) before joining COD United, was unveiled on Friday at the Oyo State government house in Ibadan. The former ABS FC coach told SuperSport.com that he is satisfied with the terms of contract handed him by the Oluyole Warriors. He also disclosed that he has penned a one-year deal with the NPL outfit. "I'm happy and honoured to be appointed as the coach of a big club like 3SC with so much tradition. I've signed a one-year contract and I am ready to give my best to the club," he told SuperSport.com over telephone from Ibadan.

_ Despite setting the pace, conserving the ball for long periods, and creating numerous opportunities, Johan Cruyff’s men were unable to get past a highly motivated Tunisian side at the Estadi Lluis Companys on Friday evening. Tunisia kicked-off the match and quickly created a half-chance on their first attack when Amine Chermiti’s closed angle shot was kicked out of bounds by Victor Valdes. Far from being overawed by their star-studded opposition, especially in the early-going, the north Africans continued to press forward and some clever interplay between Esperance team-mates Ousamma Darragi and Youssef Msakni nearly resulted in a one-on-one for the latter.

The 25-year-old hitman was in great form for club and country all year, clinching the Golden Boot in France with a stunning 25 goals in 33 games to inspire Lille to their first league title in over half a century.

He was also an integral part of the Lions team that beat Cameroon to their qualifying group's ticket to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finals.

The award, organised by the country's sports writers, saw Sow poll the most votes.

He beat Denmark's Player of the Year, Dame N'Doye, to second place, followed by Papiss Demba Cisse, Mamadou Niang and Souleymane Diawara in that order.

_Zambia have suffered a major injury blow ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations after Israel-based William Njobvu received a knee injury that will sideline him for four weeks. Defensive midfielder told MTNFootball.com from his base in Israel on Thursday that he sustained the injury in league action for Hopoel Ironi Shmona recently.